The Seventh and Concluding Article.
At the present day very few of the original Irish names remain without
being translated into or assimilated with those borne by the English. Of
this I shall next furnish instances, the truth and correctness of which
cannot be controverted. Among the O’Conors of Connaught, the name Cathal,
which is synonymous with the Welsh Cadell, and signifies _warlike_, was
changed to Charles after the accession of Charles I. to the throne; for
the Irish, who were attached to this monarch, went great lengths to
assimilate several of their Christian names to Charles. Thus, while among
the O’Conors of Connaught, Cathal was manufactured into Charles (with
which, it will be readily granted, it has nothing in common, either in
meaning or sound), among the O’Conors of Faly in Leinster, Cahir, which
signifies _warrior_, was metamorphosed into the same: and at the same
time the Mac Carthys of Desmond substituted it for their Cormac, and the
O’Hagans and other northern families for their Turlogh. This was paying
their court to the king with a vengeance!
In the families of Mac Carthy, O’Sullivan and O’Driscol, Finghin
[Fineen], a name very general among them, and which signifies _the
fair offspring_, has been anglicised to Florence. Among the same
southern families the name Saerbrethach, which prevails among the Mac
Carthys in particular, and which signifies the _noble justice_, is
translated Justin. In the family of O’Donovan, as the writer has had
every opportunity of knowing, the name Murrogh has been metamorphosed
to Morgan; Dermod, to Jeremiah; Teige, to Timothy; Conor or Concovar,
to Cornelius; Donogh, to Denis; and Donnell, to Daniel. In the family
of O’Brien, the hereditary name of Turlogh has been changed to Terence;
Mahon, to Matthew; Murtogh or Moriertagh, to Mortimer (but this very
lately); and Lachtna and Laoiseach, to Lucius. Among the O’Gradys the
name Aneslis is rendered Stanislaus and Standish. In the families of
O’Donnell, O’Kane, and others, in the province of Ulster, Manus, a
name borrowed by those families from the Danes, is now often rendered
Manasses. In the families of Mac Mahon and Mac Kenna, in Ulster, the
name Ardgal or Ardal, signifying _of high prowess or valour_, is always
anglicised Arnold. In the family of O’Madden of Shilanamchy, in the
south-east of the county of Galway, the hereditary name of Anmcha,
which is translated Animosus by Colgan, is now always rendered Ambrose,
to which, it will be readily granted, it does not bear the slightest
analogy. Among the families of Doyle, Cavanagh, and others, in the
province of Leinster, the name Maidoc, or Mogue, which they adopted from
St Maidoc, or Aidan, the patron saint of the diocese of Fernes, is now
always rendered Moses among the Roman Catholics, and Aidan among the
Protestants! (any thing to make a difference.) Among the O’Neills in
the province of Ulster, the name Felim, or Felimy, explained as meaning
_the ever good_, is now made Felix; Con, signifying _strength_, is made
Constantine; and Ferdoragh, meaning _dark-visaged man_, is rendered
Ferdinand. Among the O’Conors of Connaught, the name Ruaidhri, or Rory,
is anglicised Roderic, but among most other families it is rendered
Roger. In the same family, Tomaltach is rendered Thomas; Aodh, Hugh; and
Eoghan, Owen. In the families of Mac Donnell and others in Scotland, and
in the north of Ireland, the name Aengus, or Angus, is always rendered
Æneas. Among the O’Hanlys of Slieve Bawn, in the east of the county of
Roscommon, the name Berach, which they have adopted from their patron
saint, and which is translated by Colgan, _directe ad scopum collimans_,
is now always and correctly enough rendered Barry. Throughout Ireland
the old name of Brian is now rendered Bernard, and vulgarised to Barney,
which is more properly an abbreviation of Barnaby than of Bernard. Among
the O’Haras and O’Garas in the county of Sligo, the name Kian, which they
have adopted from their great ancestor Kian, the son of Olioll Olum, king
of Munster, is now rendered Kean; and I observe that the chief O’Hara
has suffered himself to be called Charles King O’Hara in a book lately
dedicated to him! In the family of Maguire, Cuconnaught is rendered
Constantine, while in other families Cosnavy undergoes precisely the same
change. In the family of O’Kane, the name Cooey written Cu-maighe in the
original language, and signifying “_dog of the plain_,” is now rendered
Quintin. In the family of O’Dowd, the ancient name of Dathi, which they
have adopted from their great ancestor of that name, who was the last
Pagan king of Ireland, is now rendered David, a name with which it is
supposed to be synonymous. In the north and west of Ireland the names
Duval-tach, Duv-da-lethe, and Duvdara, are all anglicised Dudley. In the
family of Mac Sweeny, the very ancient name of Heremon is anglicised
Irwin, but it is now almost obsolete as a Christian name. In the families
of O’Hanlon, O’Haran, and O’Heany, in the province of Ulster, the name
Eochy, signifying _horseman_, and which was latinized Eochodius, Achaius,
Euthichius, and Equitius, is anglicised Auhy and Atty; but this name
is also almost obsolete, the writer having never met more than one
person who bore the name, in his travels through Ireland. Among the
O’Mulconrys, now Conrys, the names Flann, Fithil, and Flaithri, have been
anglicised Florence. In the family of O’Daly, the name Baothghalach,
which was formerly latinized Boethius, is now always rendered Bowes;
and in that of O’Clery, the name Lughaidh is anglicised Lewy and Lewis.
Among the O’Reillys of Cavan, the hereditary name of Maelmora, which
signifies _majestic chief_, is now invariably rendered Myles, and among
the O’Kellys of Hy-Many, the name Fachtna is rendered Festus. In every
part of Ireland, Maelseachlainn, or Melaghlin, which signifies _servant
of St Secundinus_, has been changed to Malachy, to which it bears no
analogy whatever, excepting some fancied resemblance in sound. In every
part of Ireland the name of Gilla-patrick has been changed to Patrick;
and, by the way, it is curious to observe, that common as the name
Patrick has now become in Ireland, especially among the lower classes,
it was never in use among the ancient Irish, for they never called their
children by the name itself of the Irish apostle, deeming it more humble
and more auspicious to call them his _servants_; and hence we find the
ancient Irish calling their children, not Patrick, but Maelpatrick, or
Gillapatrick; and these names they latinized Patricianus, not Patricius.
The name of Patrick is now looked upon as the most vulgar in use among
the Irish, which is a very strange and almost unaccountable prejudice,
for Patricius was one of the most honourable names in all antiquity, as
the reader will see if he will take the trouble to read the work on the
antiquity of British Churches, by Ussher, pp. 841-1046, in which that
learned primate gives the history and derivation of the name.
The names of women have been also very much metamorphosed, and many of
the most curious of them entirely rejected. I have now before me a list
of the names of women, drawn up from the authentic Irish annals, and
from the History of Remarkable Women--a curious tract in the Book of
Lecan, fol. 193; but as the limits allotted to me in this Journal will
not allow me to furnish such a list, I must rest satisfied with giving
such names as are still retained, with a selection from the most curious
of those which have been rejected, adding their meanings as far as they
are certain. The following are the ancient Irish names of women still
retained, as the writer has determined by examining the provinces of
Ulster, Connaught, Leinster, and the greater part of Munster:--